Showing the kind of spirit that once made Britain the home of the Sinclair C5 and the Bouncing Bomb, engineer Iain Sharp decided to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing by remaking the 1979 Atari game Lunar Lander.
In that game, players had to try to land a computer module onto the moon’s surface, but Mr Sharp has created a physical version, mashing up old PCs, fishing line, inkjet printer motors and a miniature Moon lander.
Players have to guide the lander using a modified car steering wheel to rotate the module, and bash a button to fire the “rockets” to push the craft in the direction it’s pointing.
Touch sensors are used to discover if the craft has hit the target correctly, but successfully landing the little craft – which is suspended by fishing wire – is no easy matter.
“You can get away with a few little mistakes,” said Mr Sharp, “which is kind of like the real thing.”
The Lunar Lander can be found on the delightfully quirky Southwold Pier in Suffolk, which is already famed for its curious collection of home made slot machines.
Southwold is also a delightful place to visit, famed for its beach huts, gorgeous 1950s architecture and the Adnams brewery, which sits in the heart of the town.
That’s Suffolk, not Sussex, but you knew that 😉
You’d think I’d remember that seeing as I visited the place and took hundreds of photos there, but by coincidence, I was on the Adnams Broadside Ale last night and that’s left me a bit, well, thick today. 😉